Who Is Adrian Pasdar? Meet Natalie Maines' Ex-Husband (And Why Their Divorce Got So Ugly)
Who was Natalie Maines's ex-husband?
Getty Images After a long 14-year musical hiatus, the country music band known as The Dixie Chicks' (now just known as The Chicks, after recently dropping the first part of the band's name) released their album "Gaslighter" in 2020 following the lead singer Natalie Maines turbulent divorce.
"Gaslighter" was produced by the band along with Jack Antonoff (who's worked with Taylor Swift, Lorde, and leads musical group The Bleachers).
Natalie Maines and her former husband of 17 years, actor Adrian Pasdar, finalized their divorce in December 2019 after a long and less-than-amicable legal battle.
Who is Adrian Pasdar, Natalie Maines' ex-husband?
Let's find out more about Natalie Maines' ex, their relationship, and their tumultuous path to divorce.
He's an actor.
Pasdar attended the famous Lee Strasberg Theater Institute and made his film debut as Chipper in "Top Gun" in 1986 when he was only 19. He played Frankie in the 1993 Brian De Palma film, "Carlito's Way," and is known for his role as Nathan Petrelli in the NBC superhero drama series "Heroes." He also starred in the "Goodbye Earl" music video alongside Natalie Maines and The Chicks.
But Pasdar's major break into television came in 1996 when he was cast as the title character Jim Profit on the Fox series, "Profit." He went on to star in "Heroes," "Judging Amy," "Desperate Housewives," and "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D," to name just a few of his credits.
He is slated to appear in three new movies expected to release in 2021 or 2022, delayed because of COVID-19, including "The Georgetown Project," "The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu," and "The Manson Brothers Midnight Zombie Massacre."
In 2017 Adrian Pasdar left the "Avengers Assemble" cast as Iron Man due to scheduling conflicts. He was replaced by Mick Wingert for the voice as Iron Man. During that time, he also voiced Iron Man in the "Ultimate Spider-Man" series.
Adrian then moved onto the CW TV series "Supergirl" as Morgan Edge, while still working for the TV series "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" as Glenn Talbot. After that, he worked on the TV series "Milo Murphy's Law" and "Grand Hotel."
Adrian's father was an Iranian immigrant.
Adrian's father was an Iranian immigrant who worked as a cardiac surgeon and was able to start his own practice near Philadelphia.
Andrian's mother, Rosemarie Sbresny, was from Germany and had German and Polish descent. She worked as a nurse at first and later on became an English teacher in France. She now owns a successful travel agency.
His younger sister, Anamarie Pasdar, worked as an actress in the TV series "Mysterious Ways" and as an artistic director/associate producer for the SoHo Rep Theater Company in New York City.
Maines and Pasdar reportedly met at The Chicks member Emily Robinson Strayer's wedding.
Maines was a bridesmaid and Pasdar was a groomsman.
The couple married in 2000 at Las Vegas' A Little White Wedding Chapel, and went on to have two sons together: 20-year-old Jackson Slade Pasdar and 16-year-old Beckett Finn Pasdar.
Pasdar fought the prenup.
One of the main issues during their long divorce was the validity of the prenup the former couple signed prior to getting married.
Pasdar asked for $60,000 a month in spousal support, despite the fact that he reportedly made $400,000.
In one court filing, Pasdar had said that he, "does not recall the events related to the drafting and negotiation of the prenuptial agreement in 2000."
The prenup had stated that neither side would receive spousal support — something Pasdar had challenged. His attorneys said, "Natalie's assets and income are far greater than Adrian's. At present, Adrian lacks the financial resources from which to support himself and their children at a level anywhere near the marital standard."
The prenup also stated that Pasdar and Maines would have separate property.
Pasdar and Maines were already successful in their careers when they married. The prenup called for both Pasdar and Maines to keep the property they owned before their marriage, and all royalties for The Chicks music to be hers and his acting royalties to be his.
The couple also agreed they would not be paid child or spousal support, should they get a divorce.
Pasdar claimed he was broke.
Pasdar accused his ex and mother of their two sons of displaying "aggressive" behavior and "playing games" in court. In a document he filed with the courts on February 4th, 2019, the actor said he was going broke and that Maines was to blame.
Pasdar filed an income and expense declaration during the court battle with Maines. He tried to convince the judge that he deserved $60,000 a month in spousal support.
He listed his income for 2018 at $423,931.03. His average monthly income was $18,000. Expenses included $7,000 rent for his apartment in Venice, California; $1,742 for his boat; $1,500 in health care costs; $962 on groceries; $835 on eating out; $715 on clothing; $908 on entertainment; $1,916 on auto expenses; $1,362 for child expenses; and $700 on household expenses.
He had claimed that his monthly expenses were $20,717 and that he had only had $2,571 in cash and bank accounts. He owed $68,000 to friends and family for loans they made to him for living expenses and attorney fees. He owed an additional $130,000 on a line of credit, and $52,000 to a former attorney during their marriage.
He also claimed that, during their marriage, Maines paid the mortgage, expenses, bills, bought their vacation home, and handled the kids' expenses. Pasdar said he usually paid for meals at restaurants and other small expenses for the kids’ extracurricular activities.
In the court documents, Pasdar stated that Maines, “decided to aggressively litigate this divorce, knowing that Respondent has no access to funds to pay the substantial past and future attorneys fees and costs.”
But what about Maines?
Can you imagine how tedious Pasdar's efforts were to have his ex-wife bankroll his lifestyle? Maines had accused him of attempting to prolong the divorce, forcing her to spend a ton of money and time.
Time is something that was limited when she was trying to raise her two sons and record a solo album. She stated that her estranged husband was clearly on a "transparent attempt to secure an unfair litigation advantage by wearing Natalie down and dragging this case out."
Natalie Maine's net worth is 40 million dollars.
Their divorce has been finalized.
After a drawn-out, incredibly messy, two-year-long legal battle, Maines and Pasdar's divorce has been finalized. On December 19, 2019, an official judgment was finally made, making the divorce final once and for all.
In addition, legal documents from October 2019 showed that the former couple had come to an agreement to divide all of their finances.
"Gaslighter" caused speculation as to whether it referred to Pasdar.
After the release of The Chick's new album in 2020, the title of the album and its single caused speculation as to whether or not it refers to Maines' ex.
As gaslighting is a well-known form of abuse in relationships, many wondered if the title was making a political statement or if it was really meant to reference Maines' relationship with Pasdar. Maines said in a New York Times article released that year, “I mean, I see Trump in it. But that is not who I wrote it about.”
One lyric seemed to reference Pasdar's boat, which he named after Maines. Fans also noted the timing of the album, as it was being written at the same time Maines was going through her divorce.
Before the divorce had been finalized, Pasdar was actually attempting to get the songs handed over, claiming that they violated a confidentiality clause in the prenup.
Luckily, however, the group's music was saved and fans loved the new album, calling it a stunning return album.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted in February 2019 and was updated with the latest information.